Agenda item

To provide Children’s Scrutiny panel with an update on the implementation of the Council’s decision to change the age range of Almondbury Community School from the 1st September 2020.

Contact: Jo-Anne Sanders, Service Director (Learning and Early Support)

               Martin Wilby, Senior Strategic Manager (Education and Access)

The Panel considered an update on the implementation of the Council’s decision to change the age range of Almondbury Community School (ACS) from the 1^st September 2020 presented by Jo-Anne Sanders, Service Director (Learning and Early Support) and Martin Wilby, Senior Strategic Manager (Education and Access).

Martin Wilby highlighted the following key points:-

·               every pupil had been offered a matched preference where one had been made at their preferred school;

·               a uniform support package was in place for families of children who had already transferred to a new school; a number of applications for contributions had been received and these were being processed;

·               uniform vouchers were available for those children who had not yet moved school, to be able to claim free school uniform items from shops in Huddersfield;

·               all staff had been aligned to either the primary or secondary phase based on where they carried out the whole or majority of their duties within school; staff had been given the opportunity to comment on the alignments which had now been confirmed;

·               a review of the Primary staff at ACS had commenced and consultation was being undertaken with staff on the new staffing structure;

·               a deployment process had been agreed with the partner schools to share suitable vacancies with staff before they were advertised;

·               following the Ofsted monitoring visit at ACS on the 12^th and 13^th November 2019 the outcome had been published on the 19^th December and the Inspector had concluded that leaders and managers were taking effective action towards the removal of special measures;

·               The Academy Trust was the approved sponsor for ACS as a Primary School, Old Bank Junior Infant and Nursery School and Newsome High School; the other schools involved in the Academy Trust were outlined within the report;

·               Feedback from parents and children was being captured so that lessons could be learnt for future school transitions and changes.

The Panel agreed to visit Almondbury Community School to help the Panel develop their understanding of the issues in relation to improving educational outcomes.

Martin Wilby informed the Panel that temporary admission arrangements had previously been in place for 2020-2021, consultation had taken place through the normal process from December 2019 to February 2020 to consult on making these arrangements permanent.  Martin Wilby advised the Panel that the priority admission areas had been extended with the partner schools to cover the previous priority admission area covered by ACS. 

The Panel was informed that each member of staff from ACS had been aligned to either a primary or secondary phase of ACS and the alignment had been carried out on where they spend the majority of their duties.  Martin Wilby confirmed that a deployment process had been agreed with the partner schools and was being shared with ACS secondary school staff before the posts were advertised.  Jo-Anne Sanders informed the Panel that Kirklees was working with partner schools for potential job opportunities and were supporting staff.

The Panel thanked officers for the support given to parents throughout and for the financial contributions made towards the cost of uniforms.

The Panel agreed to receive details of engagement events being organised by the schools for parents in order that members of the Panel could attend if available.

In response to a question from the Panel regarding transport issues, Martin Wilby advised that there was still more engagement work to do with a small number of parents regarding the existing procedures.  The Panel was advised that there was a Transport Appeals process was in place where appropriate.

RESOLVED –

1.        The Panel noted the update on Almondbury Community School and thanked Jo-Anne Sanders and Martin Wilby for their contributions. 

2.        That the Panel visit Almondbury Community School to help the Panel develop their understanding of the issues in relation to improving educational outcomes.

3.        That the Panel receive details of parent engagement events in order that Panel Members could attend if available.